The Hathor Legacy

The Hathor Legacy

I found this site a year ago and lost it. Phenomenal site on women in popular media.

Also, you know that website I wanted to set up giving Bechdel-Wallace ratings for films, and then, being a lazy slob, I didn't get around to it? Well someone else did! It is here:

http://bechdeltest.com

Everyone go volunteer to contribute, right now. I mean it.

It's mom's fault! Our presuppositions told us so!

Moms' full-time work tied to childhood obesity | Reuters:

Two snippets from this article:

"The current study lacked information on the children's diets and exercise habits, so it is not known whether kids of working moms did in fact have poorer-quality diets or were less active."

And

"However, even if mothers' employment is a factor in the rise of childhood obesity, it would only account for a small portion [at most 8% - ed]of that increase, the current findings suggest."

So, in conclusion: we actually have NO data on whether working mothers affect children's diet and exercise. The effect, if there were one, seems to be small in any case, and there are lots of much more serious issues affecting children's weight. And, now that you mention it, no, it had never occurred to us that children have TWO parents who might, you know, share responsibility for their health ...

Brontësaurus - with barrier-breaking Feminist Vision (TM)!

90 second inspirational video - the Brontë sisters as Power Rangers!

100 novels, and only 8 women?

The Modern Library "100 best novels of the 20th century" - apparently only 8 women made the cut.

11 women-authored books show up on the "readers' choice" list (on the right), but 4 of them are by Ayn Rand.

The Curse of the "Good Girl"

My First Rant: Why Can’t Women Keep Up with Men? Try the Curse of the Good Girl � Rachel Simmons

Must get this book and (after reading it) leave it around the house for my daughter to get a look at. She hasn't quite grasped what being a bitch looks like, which is surprising, when you consider that I've been role-modelling that one her entire life ... one thing this book does seem to miss, though (just from reading the description) is the fact that according to what studies there are, being assertive in school and in jobs doesn't actually get women anywhere, which is why, as rational creatures, we don't do it. If a man has a temper tantrum, he's being appropriately manly, and gets a raise and a bigger office. If a woman does, she's being a hysterical bitch and she loses all her credibility (and doesn't get what she wants, either). If a man demands a pay raise, good for him! He knows his worth. Give him the money. If a woman demands a pay raise, who does she think she is? Sideline her, she's "difficult".

So girls may learn to be "good" not just because self-confidence is systematically beaten out of them from puberty onwards, but because being assertive and confident will not get them anything they want, and in fact will be interpreted negatively by teachers, colleagues and employers. Better to learn to sound diffident. And the best way to remember to do that consistently is to BE diffident, and just hope that everyone will be nice to you because really you're not worth very much - if you try hard enough, it's easy enough to believe that.

Sexism Sinks Sales

This week's letter to the Globe and Mail:

To the Editors:

Corus CEO Cassaday seems to feel some sympathy for his advertiser's impression that if the man of the house isn't watching the show, there's no point wasting advertising dollars on it. ("“Not that many men are that interested in their wives' mascara", How to Look Good Naked? Men Wouldn't Know).  What a pity that he doesn't choose instead to enlighten them on the basic economic fact that women control 80% of all household spending.  If only one person is in front of the tube, advertisers should only pray that it's the lady of the house.   


Yours sincerely.


(a few additional thoughts below, that didn't make it into the letter ...)

PTSD and Childbirth

Motherhood - Salon.com

This article argues that PtSD comes of a situation in which you're afraid you're going to die. Then it argues that probably mothers never used to get PTSD but now we do because a terrible outcome - the mother dying - is very uncommon these days. However I would argue that this is likely an error, and that PTSD has always been part of childbirth for some of the mothers who survived it, and that it was MORE common, not less, for those who gave birth during any other era but our own. The risk of dying in childbirth was as high as 10% before the modern era; and on top of that was the risk of living but being crippled by it. If PTSD comes of a traumatic event in which the victim has no control, and fears loss of life, why wouldn't childbirth fit the bill? That was exactly the situation in which women found themselves.

But we're not supposed to think that PTSD could result from childbirth because only warriors get PTSD; women are doing something 'natural', which translates - at least for those who haven't done it - as "miraculously easy" - if it isn't, you should feel guilty because you're doing it wrong. As if childbirth does not involve pain, uncertainty and fear, which must be met, just like battle, with submission to circumstances, courage and will.

But no. Only heroes get PTSD, and women risking their lives in childbirth don't get called heroes. So we can't admit that they might have PTSD.